Grating fasteners



April 5, 1955 JOSEPH 2,705,550

- GRATING FASTENERS Filed May 20, 1949 v FE INVENTOR LAWRENCE E. JOSEPH United States Patent GRATING FASTENERS Lawrence E. Joseph, Fox Chapel, Pa., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Blaw-Knox Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Delaware Application May 20, 1949, Serial No. 94,319

3 Claims. (Cl. 189-84) My invention relates to fasteners for gratings or the like and more particularly to fasteners for grating walkways or running boards such as are used, for example, along the top of boxcars where a firm fastening of the grating is essential.

Various methods have been proposed for fastening gratings or grating walkways to a supporting member. Generally, however, they require that the grating or walkway be specially detailed to fit various punching of supporting brackets which the purchaser provides. Such special detailing is expensive, relatively complex and in flexible as to selection of points of anchorage.

My invention provides a grating fastener which avoids these undesirable features of the prior art. It has the advantages of simplicity and cheapness as well as flexibility of selection of points of anchorage. In general, my invention comprises transversely extending connecting means attached tothe grating and lug means fastened to a supporting member and engaging the transversely extending connecting means.

The transversely extending connecting means may be in the form of a single rod or a pair of rods attached to the bottom of the grating and adapted to rest upon a supporting member. Preferably the rods are pressure welded across the grating flush with the bottom. The lug may be adapted to enter between the grating bars and to engage and partially surround the single rod or in the case of a pair of rods, it may engage one or both rods. A lug adapted to engage both rods would preferably be formed with two hooked ends, whereas a lug intended to be used with a single rod would be hooked at one end only and the opposite end would preferably be crimped to provide a bearing fulcrum. The lugs may be attached to the supporting member by bolts, rivets or other suitable means.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating my invention,

Figure 1 is a plan view of a lug according to my invention;

1 Figure 2 is a section on the line II-II of the same Figure 3 is a plan view of another embodiment of a lug according to my invention;

Figure 4 is a section on the line IV--IV of the lug of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a plan view illustrating the fastener of my invention in place at the end of a grating walkway;

Figure 6 is a vertical section on the line VI-VI of Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a plan view of my invention located intermediate the ends of a grating walkway;

Figure 8 is a vertical section on the line VIII--VIII of Figure 7;

Figure 9 is a plan view of my invention as used to fasten the adjacent ends of two grating walkways;

Figure 10 is a vertical section on the line X-X of Figure 9;

Figure 11 is a plan view of another embodiment of the fastener of my invention showing its use to fasten the adjacent ends of grating walkways; and

Figure 12 is a vertical section on the line XII-XII of Figure 11.

Referring first to Figure 1, I have illustrated a lug for use in my invention comprising a body portion 1, having an opening 2, intermediate its ends. The two opposed ends 3, are offset on the general plane of the lug so as to form hooklike ends each of which is adapted to engage 2,705,550 Patented Apr. 5, 1955 and partially surround a transversely extending rod 4 which is welded across the grating bars 5, flush with the bottom of the grating. A bolt 6, or other anchoring means is passed through the opening 2 in the lug into a supporting member 7, upon which the grating rests. The bolt or other anchoring means is drawn tight so that hook ends 3, of the lug engage and force the transversely extending rods 4, into tight engagement with the supporting member.

A second embodiment of my invention is illustrated in Figure 3. The lug of Figure 3 has a body portion 8, and an opening 9 intermediate its ends. A hooked end 10 is offset on the general plane of the lug and is adapted to engage and partially surround a transversely extending rod 12 (see Figure 5). An offset fulcrum end 11 of the lug body 8 rests against the supporting member 14, so that a bolt 13, through the opening 9, in the body of the lug will act to draw the hooked portion 10, into engagement with the transverse rod 12, thereby drawing the rod tightly against the supporting member 14. Either of these lugs may be used to connect the adjacent ends of two separate gratings to a single supporting member as shown in Figures 9 through 11. Figures 9 and 10 show the ends 15 and 16 of two adjacent gratings fastened to a single supporting member 17 by a pair of lugs 18 each of which has two hooked ends such as the lug of Figures 1 and 2. Figures 11 and 12 show the ends 19 and 20 of two adjacent gratings fastened to a single supporting member 21 by four separate lugs 22, each having a fulcrum bearing end 23 and a hooked rod engaging end 24 such as the lug of Figures 3 and 4.

The fastener of my invention is not only simple and flexible of application but is extremely strong since the force exerted by the fastener on the grating is substantially all shear. This particular distribution of force arises from the fact that the lugs engage the transverse rods close to their fusion point with the longitudinal grating bars.

I have illustrated and described apresent preferred embodiment of my invention, but it will be understood that it may be otherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim: 7

1. A grating walkway for railway cars and the like comprising a plurality of spaced apart grating bars adapted to rest upon a supporting member, a transversely extending connecting member fixed to the grating bars and flush with the bottom thereof adjacent the point where they rest upon the supporting member, lug means engaging the transversely extending connecting member and extending over at least a portion of the supporting member, and anchoring means for attaching the lug means to the supporting member, said connecting means and lug means being spaced below the top of the grating bars a distance such that when the lug rests upon the connecting member in any position it will not extend above the top of the grating bars and the top of the grating bars will present an unbroken surface.

2. A grating walkway for railway cars and the like comprising a plurality of spaced apart grating bars adapted to rest upon a supporting member, a. transversely extending rod attached to the bottom of the grating and flush with the bottom thereof so as to rest upon the supporting member, an elongated lug entering between the grating members, one end of said lug partially and removably surrounding said rod, the other end of said lug resting upon the supporting member and anchoring means for attaching the lug to the supporting member, said connecting rod and lug being spaced below the top of the grating bars a distance such that when the lug rests upon the connecting member in any position it will not extend above the top of the grating, and the grating top will present an unbroken surface at all times.

3. A grating walkway for railway cars and the like comprising a plurality of spaced apart grating bars adapted to rest upon a supporting member, a pair of transversely extending rods attached to the bottom of the grating bars and flush with the bottom thereof so as to rest upon the supporting member, a lug entering between the grating bars, the two opposite ends of said lug partially and removably surrounding said rods and anchoring means attaching said lug intermediate its ends to the supporting member, said connecting rods and lug being spaced below the top of the grating bars a distance such that when the lug rests upon the connecting rods in any position it will not extend above the top of the grating and the grating top will present an unbroken surface at all times.

References Cited in the tile of this patent 4 Clay July 1, Nagin Apr. 2, Mayer et a1. Mar. 17, Hanson et a1. Mar. 10, Flower Jan. 11, Lindsay June 6, Tench Aug. 12, Robinson Aug. 1, Adam Ian. 22, Barry Apr. 19, DeRoo June 14, Bates Oct. 23, 

